Battle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt
| combatant2 = | units1 = 2 divisions | units2 = 1 division and elements of several others | casualties1 = 3,643 | casualties2 = 3,000 (partial) | notes = The German 117th Division lost during the Battle of Loos. | campaignbox = }} The Battle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt, ( ) took place during the Battle of Loos (25 September – 15 October 1915) near Auchy-les-Mines in France on the Western Front in World War I. The British captured the redoubt and then lost it to a German counter-attack. The final British assault on 13 October failed and resulted in mostly in the first few minutes. In the British Official History, J. E. Edmonds wrote that "The fighting 13–14 October had not improved the general situation in any way and had brought nothing but useless slaughter of infantry". Background Strategic developments Tactical developments The 9th Division objectives were the buildings and dump of and the Redoubt. The Dump was a flat-topped slag-heap high with a commanding view and had been made the principal German observation post in the area. When captured the Dump would give the British observation over Haisnes and St. Elie. Prelude British offensive preparations The artillery of the 9th Division was arranged in two mobile groups and a reserve. One field artillery brigade supported each of the two attacking infantry brigades and two howitzer brigades, with a mountain battery were held back for counter-battery fire and targets of opportunity on the divisional front. The three brigade field compaines of the Royal Engineers and the pioneer battalion were placed in reserve. British plan of attack The 9th Division was to attack with the 26th and 28th brigades on a front of between the left flank of the 7th Division and the Vermelles–La Bassée railway to capture the German front and support trenches. The division was then to capture the redoubt, the Dump and Fosse 8 before advancing to the Lens–La Bassée road; after reaching the road the division was to press on to the German second position between Cité St. Elie and Haisnes. The 27th Brigade in reserve was then to advance through Douvrin to the Haute Deule canal with the 7th Division on the right flank. The Divisions of the XI Corps would then pass through to continue the advance. German defensive preparations There were pit-heads known as and auxiliary shafts called in the Loos area; was close to the north end of a spoil-heap ( ) known as "The Dump". The were above ground level and were tunnelled or hollowed out to provide observation-posts and machine-gun nests. The Dump was high, with an excellent view in all directions. New fortifications were built as quickly as possible, after the Franco-British offensives in May and June 1915. At Dump and Fosse trenches, on a slight rise in front of the original front line, a new defensive work wired for all-round defence was built and named the . The face of the redoubt was long and curved, with extensions to join with "Big Willie" Trench to the south and "Little Willie" Trench to the north. British planners judged the Hohenzollern Redoubt to be the strongest defensive-work on the whole of the front. A second position was built behind the first position, on reverse slopes as far as possible, behind a field of barbed-wire deep, to ensure that the second position was beyond the range of Allied field artillery. In the area of the redoubt the fortifications were built in July, by the German 117th Division, after it had fought at Vimy Ridge in May and June; after a period of reorganisation at Roubaix the division had returned to the line on 9 July. Battle On 25 September 1915 the 26th Brigade of the 9th (Scottish) Division attacked the redoubt and the warren of defensive works held by the German 117th Division. Following use of poison gas and a bombardment from two BL 9.2-inch howitzers they stormed through the enemy front-line and gained control of both the redoubt and The Dump within an hour. They continued forward for a further thousand yards, before retreating to a position in front of The Dump in the face of heavy German machine-gun fire from the flanks. The British lost The Dump on the 27 September to a German counter-attack. The German 14th Division was reinforced by the last two uncommitted battalions of the II Bavarian Corps, known as Composite Bavarian Regiment ( ). During the day they were joined by the I Battalion, Saxon Infantry Regiment 104 of the 40th Division. A German attack on the 29 September failed due to a lack of hand grenades, after which they reorganised their troops. By this time major fighting over most of the rest of the Loos battlefield had come to an end. By 3 October had been fought back virtually to their initial position at the cost of thousands of lives and on 8 October the Guards Division was eventually able to repulse a German attack by the 123rd and 117th divisions and part of the 7th Division on the left flank. The German artillery preparation had been inaccurate due to fog and the German infantry were stopped by uncut wire and an alert British defence, assisted by French troops north of Hill 70, the German attackers losing . On 13 October the fresh 46th (North Midland) Division (TF) attacked after a cloud gas release. The division suffered a similar fate to the two German divisions on 8 October, losing , mostly in the first ten minutes. The gas clouds had little effect due to high winds and bright sunlight and artillery support had been minimal, due to a lack of ammunition. Aftermath Analysis The official history of the war suggested that "The fighting on the 13th–14th October had not improved the general situation in any way and had brought nothing but useless slaughter of infantry." General Sir Douglas Haig thought it might be possible to launch another attack on 7 November, but the combination of heavy rain and accurate German shelling during the second half of October finally persuaded him to abandon the attempt. Casualties The 9th Division lost and the 46th Division The Guards Division had On 8 October the German 123rd and 117th divisions lost During the Battle of Loos, the 117th Division lost Order of battle The 46th (North Midland) Division was made up of the following units at the time of the attack on the Redoubt: 137th Brigade (Staffordshire) * 1/5th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment * 1/6th Battalion, The South Staffordshire Regiment * 1/5th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment * 1/6th Battalion, North Staffordshire Regiment 138th Brigade (Lincoln and Leicester) * 1/4th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment * 1/5th Battalion, The Lincolnshire Regiment * 1/4th Battalion, The Leicestershire Regiment * 1/5th Battalion, The Leicestershire Regiment 139th Brigade (Nottinghamshire & Derbyshire) * 1/5th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters * 1/6th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters * 1/7th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters * 1/8th Battalion, The Sherwood Foresters Divisional Pioneers * 1/1st Battalion The Monmouthshire Regiment Royal Field Artillery * I North Midland Brigade (1, 2 & 3 Lincolnshire Batteries) * II North Midland Brigade (1, 2 & 3 Staffordshire Batteries) * III North Midland Brigade (4, 5 & 6 Staffordshire Batteries) * IV North Midland Brigade (1 & 2 Derbyshire Batteries) Royal Engineers * 1/1st North Midland Field Company * 1/2nd North Midland Field Company * 2/1st North Midland Field Company Commemoration |designer = Michael Credland |inscription = "Their Country Found Them Ready" |source = }} The missing are commemorated on the Loos Memorial. On 13 October 2006, a memorial was unveiled, to commemorate the officers and men of the 46th (North Midland) Division who became casualties, on 91st anniversary of the final assault. The memorial was designed by Michael Credland and takes the form of an octagonal broken column high, built from Portland stone, with two tiers of steps forming the base. The broken column signifies the loss of the head of the family and the loss of an army column. The angle of cut at the top of the column is and the pitch of the steps is the same angle. An inscription "Their Country Found Them Ready", is carved on the top step of the Memorial and was chosen by Martin Middlebrook, from the song Keep the Home Fires Burning, composed by Ivor Novello in 1915. Gallery File:Hohenzollern Redoubt aerial photograph 1915 North at top.jpg|Aerial photograph of the Hohenzollern redoubt, near Auchy-les-Mines, 21 September 1915 File:46th Division attacking Hohenzollern Redoubt 13-10-1915 IWM Q 29001.jpg|The British 46th (North Midland) Division attacking the Hohenzollern Redoubt during the Battle of Loos. A cloud of smoke and gas appears in the centre and left. 13 October 1915 File:Battle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt trench map.jpg|Trench map showing British lines, carried by Captain Charles Geoffrey Vickers File:Battle of the Hohenzollern Redoubt trench map 2.jpg|Second trench map showing British lines, carried by Vickers. File:46th Division memorial Hohenzollern Redoubt unveiling ceremony.jpg|Unveiling ceremony: period tribute File:46th Division Memorial base Hohenzollern Redoubt.jpg|"Their Country Found Them Ready" File:Hohenzollern Redoubt Ceremony 1.JPG|Union Flag is sited in the centre of no man's land; the pylon stands on the site of the redoubt. Victoria Cross * Captain (Charles) Geoffrey Vickers of The Sherwood Foresters. * Corporal James Dalgleish Pollock, a corporal in the Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders. * Corporal James Lennox Dawson, a corporal in the 187th Company, Corps of Royal Engineers. Footnotes References * |title=Dud Corner Cemetery and The Loos Memorial Roll of Honour |last=Anon |year=2013 |publisher=Commonwealth War Graves Commisson |url=http://www.ww1cemeteries.com/ww1frenchcemeteries/dud_corner1.htm |accessdate=12 September 2013}} * |title=Military Operations France and Belgium, 1915 Battles of Aubers Ridge, Festubert and Loos |last=Edmonds |first=J. E. |year=1928 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London | edition=1st |oclc=58962526}} * |title=Der Weltkrieg 1914 bis 1918: Die Militärischen Operationen zu land |last=Reichsarchiv |year=1931 and 1933 |publisher=Mittler & Sohn |location=Berlin | edition=Exerpts from volumes VII, VIII and IX as Germany's Western Front, Wilfrid Laurier University Press 2010 |isbn=978-1-55458-259-4}} * |title=In Search of Ruritania: The Life and Times of Ivor Novello |last=Slattery-Christy |first=D. |year=2008 |publisher=Authorhouse |location=Indiana |isbn=978-1-4259-4943-3}} * | title = Histories of Two Hundred and Fifty-One Divisions of the German Army which Participated in the War (1914 – 1918) |last= United States Army, American Expeditionary Forces, Intelligence Section | year= 1920 |publisher= Government Print Office |location= Washington |url=http://ia700306.us.archive.org/10/items/historiesoftwohu02unit/historiesoftwohu02unit.pdf |accessdate=13 September 2013 |isbn=5-87296-917-1}} Further reading * * * External links * Victoria Cross Winners, Worcestershire and Sherwood Foresters Regimental Museum * Report Hohenzollern Redoubt, Auchy-les-Mines archaological excavations. No Man's Land The European Group for Great War Archaeology * title=Another fight for the Hohenzollern Redoubt, Western Front Association * The Royal Lincolnshire & Royal Anglian Regimental Association * The Hohenzollern Redoubt, the Staffordshire Regiment's worst day * Hohenzollern Redoubt article * "Over the Bridge of Death", the attack of the 137th Brigade * Contemporary Australian newspaper report Hohenzollern Hohenzollern Hohenzollern Loos Loos Loos Loos